4QGenesisᵇ (4Q2): Genesis 1–2 and 4–5
Four Cave 4 fragments preserve portions of Genesis 1–2 and 4–5 in a Hebrew scroll copied during the Second Temple period.
- Artifact date
- Late Hasmonean or early Herodian period
- Findspot
- Qumran Cave 4, near the Dead Sea
- Current location
- Israel Antiquities Authority collections
What archaeologists can actually examine
Four cataloged fragments preserve discontinuous portions of Genesis 1:18–21, 3–4; 2:1–3; 4:2–11; and 5:13. The siglum 4Q2 and DJD edition distinguish this manuscript from the many other Genesis copies at Qumran. The evidentiary claim concerns 4QGenesisᵇ (4Q2): Genesis 1–2 and 4–5 as a physical witness dated Late Hasmonean or early Herodian period, not a general claim about every manuscript in the same collection. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
A distinct Genesis scroll
The IAA and DJD catalogs control the manuscript as 4Q2, separate from 4Q1 and other Genesis witnesses.
Creation text preserved
Fragments physically preserve wording from Genesis 1:18–2:3.
Primeval history represented
Other pieces preserve Cain material and part of the Genesis 5 genealogy.
A bounded evidentiary claim
The dossier distinguishes the cataloged object and visible text from restored gaps, broader historical claims, and theological interpretation.
Follow the evidence from discovery to debate
Move through the find in a deliberate order: establish its provenance, examine the surviving object, place it in time, and then weigh the scholarly interpretation.
How the find came to light
4QGenesisᵇ (4Q2): Genesis 1–2 and 4–5 is cataloged as a discrete manuscript witness rather than as a generic literary tradition. Its present identity is controlled by the shelf mark or excavation siglum in the cited institutional catalog, while the publication history in the accompanying scholarly source provides the basis for the description used here. The discovery and modern catalog history matter because provenance and stable identifiers prevent detached fragments, neighboring shelf marks, or similarly named witnesses from being silently combined. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
What you are looking at
Four cataloged fragments preserve discontinuous portions of Genesis 1:18–21, 3–4; 2:1–3; 4:2–11; and 5:13. The siglum 4Q2 and DJD edition distinguish this manuscript from the many other Genesis copies at Qumran. The surviving material is presented as evidence for the text actually preserved, not as a reconstruction of missing pages or an autograph. Readers should notice the relation between the preserved material, the lines or fragments actually visible, and the biblical range assigned by the critical catalog. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Where it belongs in history
The date Late Hasmonean or early Herodian period is the cataloged scholarly assessment, normally based on script, material features, and comparison with dated hands or archaeological context. The range should therefore be read as an expert estimate rather than a date supplied by the ancient copyist. Paleographic and material dating situates the copy within a transmission history while leaving an honest chronological range rather than a falsely exact year. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Consensus, questions, and debate
Scholarly value lies in the manuscript's independent physical witness and its controlled catalog identity. Readings and reconstructions are evaluated against other witnesses; differences may illuminate transmission, but one fragment does not by itself determine the earliest recoverable form of every passage. Critical editions compare this witness with other Hebrew or Greek manuscripts, ancient translations, corrections, and scribal habits instead of treating one reading in isolation. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
The biblical record beside the artifact
The fragments are direct physical evidence that the creation sequence and early primeval-history genealogical material in Genesis 1–5 were copied and read in the Second Temple period. The connection is textual: the object preserves wording from the cited passages and documents that those passages were copied, arranged, and read in this historical setting. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Genesis 1:18–31
18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that [it was] good.
19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24¶ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
26¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
A responsible historical conclusion
This record gives readers a specific, inspectable point of contact between the biblical passage and an ancient manuscript. It is most useful for understanding preservation, copying, and reception while keeping historical and theological conclusions proportionate to the evidence. Its value is cumulative and comparative: a controlled manuscript identity adds one more datable checkpoint to the history of the biblical text and helps readers see how conclusions are tested. For this dossier, the catalog identity, surviving passage range, physical description, present collection, and publication history are kept separate so that a reader can distinguish observation from reconstruction. The conclusion is deliberately limited to what this particular witness contributes. Comparison with other manuscripts remains necessary, because neither age nor completeness makes a single copy automatically decisive.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
4Q Genesis B
Israel Antiquities AuthorityOfficial manuscript record, images, fragment identifiers, dating, and publication bibliography.
Qumran Cave 4.VII: Genesis to Numbers
Oxford University PressDefinitive DJD volume publishing the Cave 4 Pentateuch manuscripts, including 4Q2.
Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
Israel Antiquities AuthorityInstitutional context for the discovery, conservation, imaging, cataloging, and publication of the Qumran manuscripts.